Williams' Duo Concertante for Viola and Violin

[ChrisAfonso 186]

I'm currently in the process of entering this in Sibelius, so I can listen to how it should roughly sound played together... if anyone's interested, I can share a crude rendering of the 1st mvt. tomorrow or so.

[Joe Brausam 214]

Sounds good to me!

[King Mark 3,631]

Count me in

[ChrisAfonso 186]

So... took a bit longer, but finally here's a demo of the first movement. Keep in mind it's just to hear how it sounds, notes-wise, I don't think it's worth the effort to tweak the samples to make it sound more real, as a real recording is coming later this year, which will sound indefinitely better, and I'm not that proficient in making samples sound real. Just recorded Sibelius playback over EWQL. And since I have no viola solo sample, I used a cello instead.

Williams - Duo concertante - 1st mvt (demo)

enjoy!

[King Mark 3,631]

thanks.

nothing to do with your mockup,which is great,but it sounds like yet another Williams amorphic (lol,I just made that up) and schizophrenic concerto .I have a problem with this side of Williams

[Henry B 50]

Sounds great. Thanks for doing this mock-up, Chris.

[Neimoidian 14]

Thanks very much. It does sound like a John Williams' work and now I am even more eager to listen to the original recording.

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

My only complain is that you still haven't done the rest

[guido 0]

Thanks for this! It sunds great... can't wait for the real recording. Those chords at the beginning will sound magnificent on real instruments.

Whatever happened to that real recording that someone promised?

[Joe Brausam 214]

So...I assume this is going to be ready soon? Can't wait to hear it!

[Chris ChrusherComix 46]

This is good news. I find that with Williams film music, I prefer bombast and thematic material galore, but as for his concert works, I love the quieter, soothing ones (especially when trying to catch some winks). Still my favorite Williams concert release album is the 1983 LSO/Slatkin, Violin/Flute CD. Dunno why, maybe it's because it's the first one I got.

[Maestro 147]

Did this recording ever happen?

[scissorhands 16]

I don't think so, but you know how busy the schedules of first class musicians can get. I'm sure we'll end up having this recording.

[John Blankenship 0]

http://cdbaby.com/cd/romanulzaretsky

Just got it...it's quite good.

[Neimoidian 14]

I listened to the samples and I am not looking forward to it too much now. I am not a big fan of restrained composition for just solo instruments. What I like in previous JW's concerti is that they has always made a great use of orchestra.

Still, I will listen to the concertante as soon as I find an opportunity.

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

I received this CD on yesterday's mail, and have been listening to it non-stop, mainly to the Williams work.

I hurge every music lover and Williams fan to get this. The Duo Concertante is alone worth the price of the set.

This is such a wonderful piece, a masterpiece for sure, absolutly breathtaking, right from the first chord!

And the whole set is likely to became one of my favorite chamber CDs, and for sure is the best one for small scalled ensemble I got this year.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Hm, sounds interesting. I never listened to any of John Williams' concert works, before....

[Jeshopk 8]

I received this CD on yesterday's mail, and have been listening to it non-stop, mainly to the Williams work.

I hurge every music lover and Williams fan to get this. The Duo Concertante is alone worth the price of the set.

This is such a wonderful piece, a masterpiece for sure, absolutly breathtaking, right from the first chord!

And the whole set is likely to became one of my favorite chamber CDs, and for sure is the best one for small scalled ensemble I got this year.

I have the CD. I walked into the Symphony shop and bought it in November. Had no idea they recorded it. What a great surprise. The 2nd movement is the one to listen to if you like Williams' film music and not his concert music. But I like it all. It's just more bitter at the start and a lot like the violin concerto at the end.

Hm, sounds interesting. I never listened to any of John Williams' concert works, before....

You should start with the Clarinet or Tuba concerto if you want an easy transition. Or Heartwood.

[scissorhands 16]

The 3rd movement is as far as Wliams has ever gone on bitonalism. When I first read the score one year ago I thought it must have been some sort of wrong reading from myself in the viola part... but I was right and it was completely bitonal! (some of which you can actually hear in his latest scores like KOTCS). This makes me only crave for more! I wish Williams wrote more chamber music.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

"Bitonal"?

[MissPadmé 17]

"Bitonal"?

Two tonal centers at the same time..

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No idea, mate.

[scissorhands 16]

Yeah, the most frequent use of polytonalism (not sure if that's the term in English), which means, simply put, 2 different tonalities at the same time.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Uhhh...yeah.

[Nemesis 245]

Arrgh, I don't have the budget at the moment to get this

I hope I can acquire it before it sells out...

[King Mark 3,631]

I would buy the individual Williams tracks if they offered them for d/l .Like they did for the American anthem

[Jay 37,368]

I just want to say that king mark's chrismas avatar cracks me up. That is all

[Desplat13 1]

I received this CD on yesterday's mail, and have been listening to it non-stop, mainly to the Williams work.

I hurge every music lover and Williams fan to get this. The Duo Concertante is alone worth the price of the set.

This is such a wonderful piece, a masterpiece for sure, absolutly breathtaking, right from the first chord!

And the whole set is likely to became one of my favorite chamber CDs, and for sure is the best one for small scalled ensemble I got this year.

Hey, great to see you around here again! The board has missed you. Hope things are going well with you, and that you will get the chance to drop by and post a little more often.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

The 3rd movement is as far as Wliams has ever gone on bitonalism.

Does that mean that Williams is becoming more and more bi(tonal)-curious?

[Henry B 50]

[nightscape94 965]

Think of it as both instruments playing concurrently but in two different keys, playing off each other or at the same time.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I still have troubles wrapping my mind around it. scissorhands mentioned that some music in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" utilized this "bitonality". Would someone mind mentioning those pieces?

[King Mark 3,631]

the skull theme?

[MissPadmé 17]

wow the indy thread got 200 pages of whiny fanboy crying and this one gets ignored by 95 perc of the MB.. this place does not deserve the name John Williamsfan network but. John Williams commercial filmscore fan network!

I can't believe that in the whole net I don't find a MB where someone can actually have intellectual interesting discussions about JW

[ChrisAfonso 186]

I'd love to listen to this, but I can't afford to buy it these days This CD is unusual in that it's more expensive than the sheet music (which I bought). Usually it's the other way around with williams scores.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

the skull theme?

To anyone with a musical education: is he correct?

[scissorhands 16]

No, although there is some nice dissonance in that theme ;-) In regarts to bitonalism, there is some in Ants, not easy to catch, but there it is.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Would it possibly be the woodwinds that play the driving arpeggios?

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Just ordered this. Can't wait to hear it.

My common-law wife(violist) is going to perform Duo Concertante with the other member(violinist) of my orchestra in

the sunday-chamber series next february. Cool.

Try to guess who's idea it was...?

[Bryant Burnette 654]

I wish this weren't as expensive as it is, but hey, that's what Christmas money is for. I'm glad the piece finally got recorded.

[Thor 7,508]

I try and I try, but I can never seem to get into this piece. Then again, I was never a big fan of the viola or string-led pieces in the first place. But still -- there's something about the wild harmonies here that feel are somewhat grating and off-putting. Am I the only one?

(btw, I never got the expensive CD set -- I only downloaded the Williams segment from iTunes).

[crocodile 8,017]

What set was it on again? I missed the announcement.

Karol

[Incanus 5,715]

I just got this one in the mail the other day. I like Williams' little Duo Concertante quite a bit actually.

The album is called Duos for Violin and Viola.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Thats a really horrible cover

[Thor 7,508]

I just got this one in the mail the other day. I like Williams' little Duo Concertante quite a bit actually.

The album is called Duos for Violin and Viola.

I see it's down to about $24 now. When I looked into it upon release, it was almost $40! That's something, at least.

[crocodile 8,017]

It is and I completely missed that. Might invest in it.

Karol

[nightscape94 965]

I actually completely forgot about this work and the CD release.

[Thor 7,508]

It's not a piece I play very often, but it's always in the back of my head that I'll have to give it another chance..

I just read through the whole thread myself, btw. Guess the recording that Marcus was supposed to do with his friends never happened -- especially after the 'official' recording came out.

[TownerFan 4,983]

I try and I try, but I can never seem to get into this piece. Then again, I was never a big fan of the viola or string-led pieces in the first place. But still -- there's something about the wild harmonies here that feel are somewhat grating and off-putting. Am I the only one?

It's not a tonal piece, hence it requests a different kind of attention from the listener. But I wouldn't label it "grating". It's definitely challenging and somehow demanding for the listener not accustomed to this kind of language. Personally, I find it very intriguing musically--maybe a bit introverted, but always very expressive, as JW concert music always is for me, even if it's not as immediate and ear-catching as his film music (which fulfills a very different purpose, of course). As in his other chamber pieces, what's fascinating is hearing Williams exploring different techniques and languages. The third movement has an interesting parallel with the last part of his Essay for Strings from 40 years before.

[Thor 7,508]

Oh, I'm definitely attuned to atonal and dissonant music in general. There's just something about this piece....